Updated at: 23-06-2022 - By: Leo Hall

Gaming laptops tend to bring up visions of blocky, gaudy machines with red highlights, or truly over-the-top products like the Acer Predator 21X. A very different picture emerges if you zoom in on the lowest pricing points.

Assuming we can call it that, the Acer Aspire E 15 is an entry-level gaming laptop that also happens to be competent for playing certain less demanding games. Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at it, all the things it does right, and some things it does wrong.

The Pros:

  • Assuming we can call it that, the Acer Aspire E 15 is an affordable gaming laptop that also happens to be competent for certain less demanding games. The things it does right and the things it does badly will be the focus of today’s discussion.
  • Laptops that can play some less-demanding games well are hard to come by, and the Acer Aspire E 15 is no exception. Everything it does right and some of its mistakes will be examined in greater detail today.
  • The lightning-fast solid-state drive
  • High capacity of the battery
  • Simple and understated in terms of appearance

The Cons:

  • The display was poor.
  • There is a finite amount of space available on the internal
  • The majority of recent games won’t run smoothly on this system.
  • In 2022, it will be of little use.

The Design

Acer’s Aspire E 15 laptop isn’t anything special. It has a plain matte black exterior with the only noticeable feature being the textured backside.

Obviously, the laptop is virtually imperceptible in this configuration, which is just what most people want. If done correctly, colored highlights and flashing LED lights can be beautiful, but this laptop doesn’t use any of that. So, if you prefer your gaming devices and peripherals to be angular and aggressive, then the E 15 will disappoint you.

Aspire E 15 isn’t particularly heavy or thin, but it does have a weight of roughly 5.27 pounds (2.39 kg), which is about normal for a laptop.

The Hardware

The Acer Aspire E 15’s outside appearance won’t dazzle anyone, for sure. Why don’t we talk about the insides?

For starters, the i5-8250U, an 8th generation Intel Core CPU, is built inside this particular model. It has four physical cores and eight threads in total. It has a base clock speed of 1.6 GHz, but it can go up to 3.4 GHz with a suitable cooling pad. Of course, pushing the CPU too hard without a cooling pad can cause it to overheat.

Nvidia’s GeForce MX150 is a simple but reliable mobile GPU. ” In terms of 1080p or 720p gaming, this Pascal GPU is fairly good even though it is an entry-level solution. The desktop GT 1030 is more powerful, so this card won’t blow you away, but it can handle eSports and older games just fine. In order to run at a reasonable framerate, though, you’ll need to lower your settings somewhat.

It has an 8 GB of DDR3L RAM, which is ample for most games, but some may be turned off by the lack of DDR4 in 2020 — not that it makes much of a difference here, but it’s still worth noting.

The laptop has a 256GB NAND SSD for storage. This is a nice deal considering its price, however it might fill up rapidly depending on what you’re using it for. In any case, it should be sufficient as a system drive for a laptop of this type, and extra HDDs or even external SSDs can be used to expand capacity.

The Display

In terms of display, this laptop has a 15-inch 1080p IPS display, which is what you’d expect at this price point. Of course, this means that the refresh rate is 60 Hz and the response time is 4ms.

The E 15’s display can’t be faulted for performance because of its low cost and the fact that 144 Hz panels are relatively new among gaming laptops (as well as the laptop’s entry-level hardware).

It’s disappointing to find that the pictures aren’t up to par considering we’re dealing with an IPS panel. In addition to the restricted viewing angles and poor color reproduction (only 62% of the sRGB color space is represented), the display’s maximum brightness of 230 nits means it is too dark to be used outside or in brightly light areas.

Specifications

The Intel Core i5-8250H processor

Number of CPU Cores:4

8 CPU threads

Clock Speed (Base): 1.6 GHz

3.4 GHz Turbo Boost Clock

Nvidia’s GeForce MX150 graphics card.

Eight gigabytes of DDR3L RAM

A 256 GB Solid State Drive

Optical Resolution 1920 x 1080

IPS LCD

At 60 Hz, the refresh rate

4 milliseconds

15.6-inch screen

Battery Lithium-ion, six-cell

2800 mAh battery capacity

Connectors and Ports 1 × HDMI

A single USB 2.0 port.

USB 3.0 ports on each of the two computers

A single USB 3.1 Gen1 port

1 VGA monitor is required.

1 Ethernet port

Our Thoughts

Acer Aspire E 15 may not be the best gaming laptop on the market, but as an entry-level option it may be worth the price.

As previously stated, the CPU’s multiple threads allow it to tackle both single-core and multi-core workloads with ease. Gaming and older games will benefit from the powerful GPU, while the RAM and 256 GB SSD provide enough storage space and speed for most users. With that said, the laptop’s battery life is excellent; it can easily survive an entire day of light use. This is a benefit of using power-efficient hardware.

The only significant concern we have with the laptop is the display, which isn’t great, but the SSD may be too little for some users, as we’ve already said. But, of course, expanding storage is simple, while improving the display is beyond the scope of most people’s budgets. Other than that, the speakers and 720p webcam aren’t spectacular, but that’s to be expected with a laptop of this caliber.

We believe that in 2022, the market for entry-level gaming will have better options available. Our gaming laptop buying guide includes the HP Pavilion, which costs roughly the same as this Aspire E 15 model, but it has a significantly better GPU (GTX 1050 Ti), DDR4 RAM, a slightly more powerful CPU and better display. It also has the build quality that makes it feel like a higher-quality product.

For this reason and because it’s now on sale or you simply prefer the more subtle appearance, we wouldn’t recommend the Aspire E 15 as your primary gaming laptop unless you can get a good deal on it or prefer the Aspire E 15’s current design over what it will be in 2022.

Acer Aspire E 15 price and configuration options

The Aspire E 15 is available from Acer in a wide range of configurations and prices. Compared to other models, the $307.99 base model I tested is the most affordable. It has an Intel Core i3-8130U processor, 6 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB HDD on board.

A more powerful Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics card were reviewed by my colleague Henry T. Casey for the $599 model. You can check out our comparison of the Aspire E 15 with the Asus VivoBook S15, another recommended mid-range laptop, to see how these two perform. High-end Aspire E 15 comes with a Core i7 processor for $799.

Ports

The 8X DVD-RW double-layer drive and a USB 2.0 port on the laptop’s right side are throwbacks to a bygone era. A headphone jack and a power socket are also included.

In addition to the two USB 3.0 ports and the Kensington lock on the left, you’ll find a USB-3.1 Type-C port, an Ethernet port, a VGA input, and an HDMI port. The laptop’s left-hand front edge houses an SD card reader.

Keyboard and touchpad

Despite the keyboard’s ergonomics, the Aspire E 15’s keys could need a little more give. To our standards, it falls short at 1.1 millimeters. It’s reassuring to know that even with a numeric keypad, the full-size keys are still evenly spaced apart. The keys are also springy and have an actuation force of 72 grams, which gives them a weighted sensation (anything over 60 grams is ideal).

I was able to type 111 words per minute with a precision of 95% on the 10fastfingers.com typing test. That’s a little slower than my usual 119 wpm, but it’s right in line with my 5% error rate.

The Aspire E 15’s touchpad is 4.1 x 3.3 inches and is extremely responsive. Pinch-to-zoom, a three-finger swipe upward to reveal all open tabs and the Action Center’s four-finger tap were all snappy responses.

Audio

However, the Aspire E 15’s speakers are powerful enough to fill a big room, but the overall sound quality is lacking. The vocals in Band of Horses’ “The Funeral” sounded empty and distant when I listened to it. Even at 60% volume, the guitar treble pierced my delicate ears, distorting the speakers.

To hear Sam Cooke’s dulcet tones on “A Change Is Gonna Come,” I cranked up the volume on the song. As a result, the instrumental elements of the song gained center stage, with vocals fading into the background. Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” had a much better midrange, but the audio was still balanced and clear.

Performance

The $349 Acer Aspire E 15 has a great price-to-performance ratio thanks to its 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8130U CPU, 6GB of RAM, and a 1TB 5,200-RPM hard drive. Even when playing a 1080p YouTube movie, the laptop was able to load 10 Firefox tabs with ease. Only after increasing the number of open tabs by two, playing two more HD YouTube videos, and watching a Twitch feed did I begin to notice some small slowness.

Geekbench 4.1’s overall performance test gave the Aspire E 15 a score of 7,871. Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (5,696) and the budget laptop average (5,021) were significantly behind the Core i3-equipped Acer Spin 3 (8,543).

Since the Aspire E 15 uses a mechanical hard drive, its poor performance in our hard-drive test was to be expected. In 2 minutes and 32 seconds, the 1TB hard disk copied 4.97GB of mixed-media files at a rate of 33.5 megabytes per second. However, compared to other budget laptops like the Acer Spin 3 (28.6 MBps) and the ASUS VivoBook Flip 14 (29.4 MBps), this is substantially slower (50.93 MBps).

The Aspire E 15 took 2 minutes, 12 seconds to match 65,000 names and addresses on an Excel spreadsheet. Aspire once again triumphed, beating out the Acer Spin 3 (2:31), the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (3:35), and the budget average (3:50). (6:00).

Using the HandBrake program, we downscaled a 4K movie to 1080p on the Aspire E 15. At 31 minutes and 40 seconds in length, it accomplished what it set out to do well. It took the Acer Spin 3 (34:59) a little longer, while the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (52:34) and the average low-cost laptop (53:33) took nearly twice the amount of time.

The Acer Aspire E 15 isn’t powerful enough to play the most recent games, but its graphics performance is adequate for a budget laptop. In the Ice Storm Unlimited graphics test, the Aspire E 15’s Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU scored 63,817. At 70,217 points, the Acer Spin 3 had a better GPU, while the Asus VivoBook Flip 14’s UHD Graphics 615 GPU was outperformed by that of its competitor (51,586). Laptops in this price range have an average score of 21,138.

We tested the Aspire E 15 in a real-world gaming benchmark, and it came out on top. Driftd past the Acer Spin 3 (38 fps) and the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (31 fps) to play the racing game Dirt 3 at 56 frames per second (27 fps).

Battery life

The Acer Aspire E 15’s battery life is decent for a low-cost laptop, but it won’t break any new ground. In our Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, it lasted 8 hours and 48 minutes. In comparison, Acer Spin 3 powered down after only 6 hours, a difference of roughly 3 hours. Budget laptop category average and the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 were both almost an hour faster.

Webcam

The Acer E 15’s webcam doesn’t raise the bar set by other budget laptops. At first, I put it down to the drab laptop display’s lifeless graphics. To test my hypothesis, I took a selfie and watched it on a more vibrant display. Despite the fact that I’d just seen a ghost, my face was still white and my dark-blue shirt was pitch black.

If you can get past the webcam’s graininess, you’ll get a great quantity of information. Hair strands on my head and ornaments on the desk behind me were visible to me. E15 owners should consider getting an external webcam, no matter what.

Heat

During our testing, the Acer Aspire E 15 never exceeded 95 degrees Fahrenheit. A full-screen HD video on YouTube took 15 minutes to warm the laptop’s touchpad and keyboard center (84 degrees) but none of the other components (87 degrees or lower) got any hotter than the underbelly (86 degrees). 93 degrees was the hottest spot on the underside near the hinge.

Software and warranty

The Aspire E 15 is pre-configured with a variety of applications. There is a special Acer folder on its Windows 10 Home operating system containing proprietary apps. It’s hard to say whether any of these extras are useful or just a waste of space. The Acer Care Center is a valuable tool that allows you to perform tasks such as driver updates, data backups, and trash file deletion. You may also access power settings on-screen using the Acer Power Button.

Acer Documents, for example, which displays the folder in which your laptop’s user manual is stored, seems superfluous. On/off controls for USB charging and a BlueLight Shield setting are the only features of the Acer Quick Access app.

On Windows 10 laptops, especially budget models, we’ve learned to anticipate a long variety of apps from third parties. Booking.com, Amazon, Evernote, eBay, and Netflix are just a few of the services available on the Aspire.

Bubble Witch 3 Saga, Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Cooking Fever, Dragon Mania Legends, Minecraft, and Hidden City round out this undesired mine of software.

Acer offers a one-year limited warranty on the Aspire E 15. See how Acer fares in our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands rankings.

Inputs and connectivity

The E 15’s screen isn’t the star of the show, but its backlit keyboard is. Despite having to share a numpad, its keys are sturdy and well-spaced; and their deep, springy travel is ideal for the professional typer. The E 15 has a lot of space, and its keyboard makes the most of it.

The E 15’s extra-large touchpad does the same thing, and we’re happy to report it. Large, but not excessively so, and with plenty of place for palms to rest. Multi-touch gestures are supported, as well as smooth scrolling, and palm rejection is excellent on this device. This touchpad has a good click, however it’s a little uneven – it gets rigid near the top.

The E 15’s superb selection of new and legacy ports only serves to further solidify its status as a workhorse. The left and right sides of the base are adorned with USB ports ranging from 2.0 to Type-C, as well as an HDMI and Ethernet port.

The E 15’s presence of a VGA connector and DVD drive sets it apart from the Inspiron and Pavilion. Despite the fact that their presence may harm the E 15’s reputation, they surely enhance to its appeal, especially for students and enterprise customers. As many organizations and schools continue to utilize wired projectors, Acer’s laptop is one of the few that can accept these devices.

FAQS:

Is Acer Aspire E 15 good for gaming?

One of the best laptops on the market for regular usage is Acer’s Aspire E 15. However, if you want to play 2018 titles like Black Ops 4 on a restricted budget, this is an acceptable option. It’s a no-brainer when it comes to gaming compared to anything with built-in graphics.

Why is my Aspire E 15 so slow?

The slowness of your Acer laptop may be caused by malware that is consuming too much system resources in the background (CPU, memory, etc.). Adware, for example, can be used to inject itself into your browser through the addition of obnoxious flash adverts.

Why are Acer laptops not good?

For example, Acer uses less expensive plastic casings, components that are less tightly packed, thinner plastic, and fewer reinforcement struts in the enclosures. Because of this, many Acer laptops can’t sustain normal use for more than a few years.

Conclusion:

Solid performance, extended battery life, and a wide selection of ports are all included in the Aspire E 15 E5-576-392H for less than $400. Some of its flaws include a drab display and a big, uninspired appearance. However, the whole product isn’t harmed by these little issues.

It’s possible to purchase a Microsoft Surface Go for less than $500 if you’re willing to compromise on screen size (when you include the keyboard). In addition to its 10-inch HD display, the detachable 2-in-1 weighs just 1.1 pounds, making it one of the lightest laptops on the market right now. For those on a tight budget, Lenovo’s IdeaPad 120S costs $270. With a clean design and good performance, the 14-inch laptop can charge via USB-C.